Emotion
by Graymoon74
Summary: This fic is based on the scene in 'Unbearable' where Sara comes upon Grissom and Sofia talking.  These are her raw feelings about that moment and other moments to follow.
1. Chapter 1

Sara came around the corner, her heart soaring in her chest, her knees almost weak with anticipation of seeing him again. She had evidence to show him, good evidence. If she played her cards right, she could draw out their encounter for a few minutes longer just to be near him.

She was addicted to him now. The night he had come over to ask her why she was so angry, had been the turning point in her life. He had sat there so focused only on her. His warm hand strong against hers as she had cried her eyes out to him.

She found herself almost smiling, but that wasn't like her.

No smiling, she told herself, you'll look like a fool.

She moved faster now, her adrenaline slamming through her veins as she neared the small lunch room.

But, suddenly, she slowed down, her heart nearly stopping in her chest, her hands almost dropping the folder she clutched.

There he was seated, laughing, happy, with Sofia.

She felt something ball up in her throat, pressing against her lungs. She wondered if she might pass out right there in front of them, her heart finally broken.

But, she didn't stop walking toward them, eventhough she really wanted to.

When she entered the door, she stood motionless listening to the smiling voices in front of her. His voice had never smiled that much for Sara.

She had gone through the evidence with them, mainly focusing on Grissom, trying her best not to look bothered by how close they still seemed to be sitting.

At some point, Grissom's focus had shifted back to Sofia, leaving Sara feeling as if she were an onlooker.

"Did you need anything else?" Grissom had asked upon finally noticing that Sara was still in the doorway.

"No." she had said softly, her eyes empty, "That was all."

She had left quickly, so quickly that she tripped on her own feet, and fell forward onto her palms. She hadn't waited for help. She didn't want help. As quick as she had fallen, she got up and made her way to the locker room.

She sat on the cold, hard bench in front of her locker, her hair shielding her face as she began to cry softly. She watched as her tears hit the red palms of her hands and slid over her skin, dropping to the cement floor.

"Sara?" she heard Grissoms' soft voice.

She didn't look up. She didn't want him to see her crying.

She felt him seat himself beside her, his hands reaching for her hands, "Are your hands okay?"

"Fine." she said quietly, her hair still shielding her face from him, "I'm fine." She pulled her hands away from him and got to her feet, "I need to use the restroom." She hurridly left, grateful that he hadn't seen the tears.

She washed her face off in the bathroom, her cheeks red and patchy from drying off her skin with a paper towel. For a long moment she stared at herself in the mirror wondering what she didn't have that Sofia did.

Behind her, the door had opened and in walked Sofia.

"Are you okay?" she had asked as Sara stared at her in the mirror, "Grissom was worried."

"Fine." Sara said as Sofia disappeared into a stall, "You two have lunch everyday together?" As soon as she asked it, she wanted to take the question back. What the hell was she doing.

"Usually dinner." Sofia had laughed.

Sara didn't know it was possible for her frown to grow deeper, "That's nice." she had found herself saying.

Catherine walked into the bathroom, "What's nice?"

Sara gave her a quick, fake smile, "Sofia and Grissom are dating."

She exited the bathroom quickly, only to run straight into Grissom who had just come around the corner.

"Have you been crying?" he questioned her, his eyes roving her face, "What's wrong, Sara?"

She shrugged, "Fine." she said with another shrug of her shoulder, "Everything's great."

Grissoms' eyes narrowed as he stared at her, "Do we need to talk again?" he asked, as his hand gently touched her back.

Just as Sara was about to answer, Sofia walked out of the bathroom followed by Catherine. They parted, but Sofia stayed near Grissom, "Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Fine." Sara said quietly as Grissom dropped his hand from her back, "You two have a nice dinner tonight." And with that said, she left them.


	2. Your Car, My Spot

The next night, Sara pulled into the crowded parking deck, her tires screeching to a halt right behind Sofia's car. The blonde haired woman was getting out of the car at that precise moment, gently fixing her hair in the reflection of her window.

Sara honked her horn, causing Sofia to jump a bit. She came over to Sara's window quickly, "What?" she asked.

"That's my space." Sara said as she gave her a tight smile.

"Uh...Sara...we don't have assigned parking spaces." she said as she began to fix her hair up in a ponytail, "There is a space right next to mine, take that one."

Sara revved her engine, "I'll push you out of that space."

Sofia shrugged, "What is your problem, Sara?" she said as she moved away from Sara's car, "Just park there." she again pointed to the empty space on the right side of her car, "I have to get in to work."

Sara watched her leave, her hands still grasping the wheel tightly. She knew she had to calm down. And do it fast.

Finally, with her blood still throbbing in her temples, she pulled her car into a spot further down. She didn't want to give Sofia the satisfaction of parking in the space right next to her car.

When Sara arrived in the conference room everyone was seated. Sofia, of course, right next to Grissom.

Sara calmly walked over and seated herself inbetween Warrick and Nick who congratulated her on her lateness.

"So," Grissom continued as he eyed Sara, "everyone has there assignments?"

Everyone around the table agreed in unison, except Sara who was still waiting on her assignment.

"What about me?" she asked, her eyes darting around the table, "What do I get?"

Grissom eyed her again as everyone parted ways, "You're with me and Sofia."

Sara felt her anger rising again, "Grissom..."

"Let's get out to the car." he said, totally ignoring Sara.

Both woman got up, Sara watching as Sofia's hand lightly slid past Grissoms hand as she walked away from the table.

Sara suddenly found that she couldn't move an inch, "Could I just have the night off?" she asked as she leaned in on the table.

Grissom came around the table toward her, his stride slow and deliberate, "No." he said as he stopped in front of her, "What's wrong? Why were you late?"

"Parking trouble." she said as she leaned on the table.

"I need you." he said quietly, gently tapping the folder against his palm.

She stared at him, his body just moments from her own, "Apparently not as much as you need Sofia."

"Sara." Grissom said softly.

She dropped her head, shaking it slightly, "Lead the way."


	3. Alone In The Back Seat

Sara followed Grissom out into the night, her footfalls almost matching his as they traveled the length of the parking lot. She couldn't help but stare at his coat, stretched across those wide, strong shoulders, leading up to the back of that thick manly neck. How many times had she thought about kissing the skin there, her hands rubbing his tired muscles, daring to touch his flesh with her long fingers. She had thought about it so many times, that at moments, she could almost taste his salty sweat after a long hard day on the job.

She wasn't paying attention, her mind locked somewhere with Grissom. Suddenly, she slammed into him, her chin scraping across his beard as he stood there staring at her, "What is up with you tonight?" he asked as he grasped her shoulders, his eyes meeting with her eyes.

"I told you, I could use the night off." she said as she stepped back from him, his hands dropping from her arms.

"Why?" he asked quietly.

"Personnal reasons." she said as she glanced at the tender skin of his earlobe.

Grissom stood there contemplating her for a moment, his eyes searching for any sort of answer that she wasn't offering.

Behind him, Sofia leaned out the window of the car, "Are you coming?"

"This case needs you, Sara." he said as he took her by the arm, leading her to his car, "We need you."

Sara felt a lump swell in her throat as she walked toward the car. She could feel his hand, tight, but gentle, guiding her over to the door. He opened it for her, almost pushing her into the warm interior.

Her eyes met with Sofia's as she fastened her seatbelt, "I get shotgun on the way back." she said softly as Grissom entered the driver's seat.

"Comfortable back there?" he asked as Sofia turned up the jazz station a bit.

"Fine." Sara said, her eyes meeting with Grissoms in the rearview mirror, "Now I know what a convict feels like."

The ride was quiet. Every once in awhile Sofia would look back at her, a somewhat quizzical expression in her blue eyes.

"It's an hour and a half drive." Grissom said as he eyed Sara in the rearview mirror, "You can take a nap if you'd like."

"I'm fine." she said as she looked over to Sofia, "I slept in my car on the way here."

"That would explain your bad attitude when you arrived." Sofia said as she eyed Grissom, "Sara had a bit of a problem with me parking in her spot."

"We don't have assigned spots." Grissom said as he eyed Sara again, "You know that, Sara." he said as he reached over to turn the radio down.

"I know." Sara said, her arms crossed under her breasts, "But," she pushed some hair behind her cold ear, "she's come in here taking over almost everything and I just wanted to keep one thing still in my clasp."

"What are you talking about?" Sofia said shortly, her blue eyes scanning Sara's face, "What else have I taken over?"

Grissom stared at Sara in the rearview mirror, his eyes only going back to the road when Sara's met with his, "Everything important to me." she said quietly, her eyes shifting to Sofia, "You wouldn't understand." she relaxed her hands on her knees, the gloves feeling suddenly too hot on her fingers.

Sofia stared at her, finally letting her eyes rove over Grissom's face, "I guess I don't."

Sara kept her eyes averted on the dark night outside the window. She couldn't believe that she had suddenly said so much. Maybe too much.

When they arrived at the scene, Sara was quick to get out of the car. She needed to wrap her mind around something that didn't have to do with Grissom.

"Go on in Sofia." she heard Grissom say as they all exited the car, "We'll follow."

Sara shut her door, only to be met with Grissoms stare, "Front seat." he said.

"Grissom..." she started.

"Now." he said.

Moments later Sara found herself seated next to Grissom in the passenger seat, the warm air from the vents feeling nice against her cold skin. She sat there, her eyes locked on the shield on the front of Grissoms vest. It was meant to show protection, but, right now, she didn't feel protected. She knew she had said too much.

"Is this about the other night?" he asked caustiously, his eyes roving all the angles of her beautiful face.

She tried to hide the truth by not looking into his eyes, "No."

"Sara..." he paused, licked his chapped lips, "what am I to do with you?"

She could tell him a million things, but she opted for only one, "Nothing."

"I held you to comfort you." he said now, causing Sara to shift uncomfortably in the seat, "That's what concerned people do, Sara."

"I just thought it changed things." she said, but cleared her throat quickly, now looking at him with a crocked smile on her face, "I guess I just don't understand concern very well."

"Sara..." he sighed softly.

Suddenly there was a loud, ground moving, boom.


	4. What Went Boom?

Sara woke slowly, her head throbbing, her mouth dry. She tried to lift herself, but her body wouldn't move.

Her eyes fluttered open. Actually, only one eye opened, the other seemed glued closed. She strained against whatever was holding her lid down, but it just wouldn't budge.

With her opened eye she could see some sort of cotton wadding on her face.

What had happened, she wondered as she now looked toward the ceiling. Where was she?

She moved her mouth, which felt dry, her lips cracked.

She moved her hands, they seemed numb.

"Hello?" she said into the quiet air of the room.

"She's awake." she heard someone say softly.

Moments later a nurse leaned over her, "Hi Miss Sidle." she said quietly, a gentle smile on her lips, "You're going to be fine."

Sara didn't feel fine.

She tried to speak again, but it came out as a whisper.

"Relax." the nurse said as she gently wet Sara's lips with some water on a sponge, "Your husband is here." she dripped some water into Sara's mouth, "Everything is fine."

"Husband?" Sara said as the water gently slid down her throat. She felt her heart stiffen in her chest, her hands grabbing at the sheets, but not closing over the material becasue they were still too numb.

"Yes." the nurse said as she moved about Sara, checking her bandages, "Just relax."

Sara knotted her brows in confusion, her head suddenly throbbing harshly. Her temple's pulsating to the rhythm of the machine out beside the right side of the bed.

What was going on?

Had she lost her mind?

"Your husband stepped out in the hallway for a moment just to let everyone know that your awake." the nurse said as she slid her cold fingers onto Sara's small wrist, "I just need to take some vitals real quick."

Sara closed her eye, trying her best to remember what had happened.

She could remember being in the car with Grissom. They had been talking and Sara could remember she was just about to get out of the car because the air around them had gotten so stiff. She hadn't wanted to be rejected by Grissom once again.

Then...

She opened her eye, "What went boom?" she said quietly as she stared up at the ceiling.

She felt warmth on her hand then.

She knew that warmth, that touch.

"Grissom." she said softly, her lips sticking to each other so that it came out as a soft moan.

"I'm here." he said quietly.

She focused her eye on him.

"Beautiful." she said quietly, mainly to herself, "Such a beautiful man." she felt the warmth on her hand gently squeeze.

He knew the drugs must be working on her pretty good, "I told the nurse I was your husband." he said as softly as possible, his head cocked to the side a bit, "It's the only way they would let me stay with you."

"Good idea." she said as she licked at her dry lips, her tongue feeling like sandpaper against them.

Grissom took the sponge and wet her lips.

"I seem to have something on my face." she stared into his eyes, "What is it?"

She saw Grissom hesitate.

"Grissom." she said as he put the sponge back in the water pail next to her bed.

"You need to rest." he said softly, his lips barely moving.

"Please tell me."

Grissom pulled a seat over, his hand still touching her hand. For a moment he was silent, his thumb sliding back and forth over Sara's fingers.

"A teenager threw a grenade at the car."

"That was the boom?" She closed her eye, "What about my face?"

She felt his hand squeeze her hand softly, "Bandaged." he said.

She opened her eye, "How bad?"

"You're still beautiful, Sara." he said softly.

She didn't like what she saw in his eyes, "Grissom...please."

"I don't understand why you didn't get out of the car." he said softly, his hand now laid over hers as if to protect, "I told you to get out and you did get out, but then you got back into the car." he looked haunted, "I was running up the hill, my hand outstretched to you, but when I turned, just as the grenade hit, you weren't there."

She remembered suddenly.

She remembered getting out of the car, her hand just about to shut the door, when she saw the guy in the bushes. He had something in his hands. She had panicked, jumping back into the passenger seat, slamming the door closed.

She had ducked down...

"I saw him." she said as Grissom brushed a stray hair out of her face, "I didn't know what he was holding."

"The car caught fire." Grissom cleared his throat, "You were burned pretty badly." he brushed his fingers lightly over the white gauze that covered her cheek.

"How badly?"

He sighed heavily, "The whole left side of your body."

"Oh God." she moaned softly, feeling a light shudder flow though her body, "What about my eye?"

"Shrapnel hit it. You have quite a gash right below your eyebrow." he looked pained for a moment.

"Is that all?" she said quietly as he again squeezed her hand.

"You're alive, Sara, that's all that matters." he said gently.

She closed her eye, a tear slipping hot and wet down her pale cheek.

"They're going to do skin graphs." he said as his warm finger brushed her tears from her face, "They'll fix you, Sara."

She opened her eye, "I've seen people after they have that done, Grissom." she licked her dry lips again, "They never look the same."

She felt the bed sag as he leaned over her, his face coming into better view, his eyes locked with her eye, "You'll always look the same to me."


	5. Who Is That Face In The Mirror?

Sara was sure she didn't see anything in the mirror that she liked, but she still stared at the pale woman before her. Why wasn't the skin looking any better than it had months ago? Why wasn't it healing? She pushed her fingers against the scarred tissue, causing it to soften to the level of her normal flesh, but as soon as she pulled the finger away, the skin looked damaged again. Gently she shook her head, rolling her eyes at herself. She knew now that without her beauty, she had nothing to offer Grissom. And she had, over the past months of being back at work, recognized how awful it was to be damaged. She also had become obsessed with Sofia's looks. Jealous that Sofia still had Grissoms attention.

But she hadn't dwelled on it much. She had thrown herself into work.

Work always saved her.

She closed the locker, only to realize that someone was watching her.

She turned to see Grissom standing in the doorway. For a second they stared at each other, no words exchanged, and then he walked away.

Sara felt her heart shatter as she listened to his footfalls getting further and further away.

She wondered if he had just come to the door so that he could check out her face, see if the recent skin graph had done any good. See if he could see the old Sara in her anymore.

A half hour later she was bent over a bloodied towel, her tweezers pulling at a fiber buried deep in the groves of the fabric. She was determined to get it, even if she had to stay later into the night.

Outside the small room she stood in, she could hear people passing, voices muffled.

The lab was clearing out for the night.

It was Grissoms soft voice that finally pulled her out of her concentration, causing her to step back, the tweezers still tight in her clasp.

"Shift is over, Sara."

She moved back over to the towel, "I just have to get this evidence and then I am out of here." she moved her head so her hair fell along her scar, "I promise."

Grissom walked over to her, "I was told you haven't gone home in three nights." he said as he pulled up a stool to the table, "Brass is worried."

"And your concerned?" she said without looking up.

"Yes." he said softly, a slight edge to his voice.

"I just have to finish this." she said, fully aware that he was studying her.

She moved her hand closer to the fiber, the tweezer tip buried in the fabric again.

"Sara." Grissom said quietly.

She felt her heart quicken as she lifted her head to look at him.

"You need to go home."

She stared into his eyes, her hand lifting quickly to brush her hair down to cover the scar, "I swear I am leaving in a second."

"I'll follow you out." he said.

She pulled hard on the material, uttering a tight laugh when it finally pulled free, "Got it." she smiled at Grissom.

"Good." he got off the stool, "Let's go."

She put the tiny fiber in a bag, labeled it and then looked at Grissom, who was still gazing at her, "I really need to shower." she said with a bit of a pitch to her voice, "So," she headed for the door, "I'll leave after that."

"You can shower at home." Grissom said as he shut the light off.

She heard his footfalls behind her as she headed toward the locker room. When she reached her locker she turned to see him standing behind her, "I wanted to pay you for the nurse you had look after me for all those months."

Grissom leaned against the locker beside hers, "I don't want payment." he said lightly, "That was me helping you so you could get back to work quicker."

She wanted to run her hand across his beard, he was that close. His eyes again roving her face for answers.

She took out her check book, her pen poised to write.

He covered her hand with his hand, his voice soft, "No, Sara."

She stared down at his hand, so warm and soft against her own.

"I feel it's needed." she offered as his skin pressed warmly against her own.

"I feel it was my fault." he said quietly, his finger gently sliding back and forth over her scarred skin on her hand, "If I hadn't made you come back into the car..."

Sara felt confusion slowly settling into her brow as she stared at his face. In that moment, she actually could see sadness in his features. Something she has never witnessed before. Slowly, she lifted her other hand to touch his cheek, her eyes still focused on the pain in his eyes, "It wasn't either of our faults."

A high heeled click clack could be heard coming into the locker room, "Am I disturbing something?" Sofia's voice asked from behind Grissom.

Sara dropped her hand from his face as if she were guilty of something, "No." she said, "I just owe Grissom some money."

Grissom turned slowly toward Sofia. She was dressed in a small, black dress, her hair pulled up in a bun, "I'll be with you in a moment." he said.

Sofia pulled her gaze from Sara, "Okay?" she said as she turned on her high heels and walked from the room slowly.

Sara bent her head low, happy that the left side of her face was facing the other way, "You should go."

Grissom breathed in lightly, and to Sara's astonishment, seated himself on the bench, "Sit." he said softly, his warm hand still grasping her hand. She was grateful for the touch. Even happier that he didn't pull away from her scarred skin.

She seated herself, her hands lightly shaking against his hand. The checkbook slowly closing as his hand shut it for her. The pen dropping to the cement floor with a soft bounce.

"Sofia's waiting." she said softly, clearing her throat, her hair shielding her face from him, "You should definitely go."

He put her checkbook and the pen back in her locker and then pressed his warm hand against her quivering knee, "Look at me, Sara."

She bit down on her lip so hard that she was sure blood would be pooling into her mouth soon. Finally, as if his stare willed it so, she lifted her head, gently turning it so her eyes now focused on Grissom.

He lifted his right hand to push Sara's hair away from her scarred flesh, his thumb running softly down it, "Why have you been avoiding me?"

"Well," she raised her eyebrows, desperately wanting to push her cheek deeper into his hand, "I just..." she shaked her head softly, her lips trembling slightly, "I feel..."

"What?" he asked, his eyes locked with her eyes.

She lifted her left hand to grasp onto his hand, "I just don't feel so human anymore."

She saw concern register itself in his face, as he let his hand drop from her flesh, "Why?"

Sara smiled, again biting her lip, "Are you looking at me?" she dropped her head so her hair rested against her scar again, "It's all over me."

She heard him shift himself on the bench, his left knee suddenly pressed against her right knee, "Did you know I am slowly going deaf?" he asked softly, his hands clasped in his lap now, his demeanor quiet.

She looked at him, his face suddenly so close to hers, she was sure if she breathed, he could feel it, "That's on the inside, Grissom." but she lifted her cold hand and stroked his ear lightly, "I'm sorry."

He sighed mostly from her tender touch, his eyes coming to hers again, "We all have our problems, Sara."

She stared at him for what seemed like an eternity and then she stood up and shut her locker, "I know." she said quietly as she gathered her jacket, "Only mine," she said as he followed her out of the locker room, "is on the outside and I feel like a monster."

Sofia was quick to meet them in the outer hall, her eyes shifting from Grissom to Sara and back, she looked worried, "Is everything okay?"

Sara smiled tightly, "Fine."

Grissom watched her, his worry still apparent in his light scowl, "Sara..."

She pulled her coat on, "It's cold and I have to go." she said quickly, "Have a good night." she said and left the building in a blur.


	6. Sofa Sofia

The next night at the lab, Sara found herself seated in the empty breakroom, her eyes glued to the television in front of her as she slowly picked at her salad. She knew she wasn't going to eat any of it. She just needed it for props. If she made it look like she was eating, then no one would know that she actually hadn't eaten anything since yesterday morning.

She had meant to eat dinner on the previous night, but something or someone had ruined her appetite.

She sighed lightly, pressing a cucumber against her lips, if only for the smell of the creamy dressing, then she pulled it away, burying it in the napkin she kept beside the bowl.

"I saw that." Grissom said as he walked into the room.

Suddenly Sara felt like a bad child, but she didn't look over at him, "The dressing smells rotten." she lied, "Plus, I'm just not feeling the cucumbers tonight."

Grissom turned off the television and seated himself in front of her.

She watched as he picked a piece of lettuce off her salad and ate it, "Evidence shows that the dressing is fine." he leaned back in order to study her, "Maybe the person who is eating it, isn't so much."

"I am fine." she lied, pasting a false smile on her sheer lip glossed lips.

"So you're not eating or sleeping?" he raised his eyebrow lightly, "And your overworking."

Sara looked from Grissoms heavy stare to Sofia as she walked into the breakroom. She plopped herself into the couch beside the table, a small grin on her lips.

"You seem happy about something?" Grissom said to Sofia as she shrugged and grabbed up a magazine.

"You know what I am happy about." she winked at Grissom, her blonde hair falling delicately into her face.

Sara stared hard at Sofia, but Grissom was quick to get her attention back to him.

"Come see me in my office when your done with dinner." he said, now moving away from the table.

"I'll see you tonight for dinner?" Sofia said, a smile spread wide across her face.

"Not sure about tonight." was Grissoms reply as he headed out of the room.

Sara eyed Sofia again, now closing up her salad and chucking it in the garbage behind her, "I guess your case is going well?" she heard herself ask.

Sofia looked at her, still somewhat starry eyed, "Wonderful." she replied, "And things with Grissom are wonderful too."

Sara felt her heart constrict in her chest, "Really?" she asked with a deep growl in her throat.

Sofia turned another page of the magazine, shifting her behind on the couch, "I think he wants me to move in."

Sara couldn't help it, suddenly she began to cough violently, her face turning crimson, her body shaking.

Sofia moved to help her, but Sara moved away, "I'm fine." she said, finally getting control of her spasms, "I'm happy for you." she left the breakroom, tears in her eyes mainly from how hard she had been coughing.

Moments later, she entered Grissoms office.

"Shut the door." he said softly.

She closed it quietly and seated herself.

The room was silent for a moment. Just the ticking of the clock above Grissoms head could be heard.

Sara waited.

"Sara..." he began as he pulled his chair around the desk in order to be nearer to her, "I need you to take care of yourself." he said this so softly that Sara couldn't help but stare at his lips to be sure that they were moving.

"I am." she said quietly, offering him a quick smile, "I'm fine."

Grissom was silent for a moment, his head bent low, his hands grasped together in his lap, "I want..." he said, but paused hard.

Sara felt confusion rising in her face again, "Are you..."

Grissom looked at her, "I need..."

Sara couldn't stand Sofias words that were still running through her head, "Are you moving Sofia in with you?" she almost stuttered.

She saw confusion now in Grissoms face, "What?" he said with a slight twist of his lips.

Sara cleared her throat, glancing up at the clock for reassurance that she still had break time left, "Sofia said..."

"It's not like that." he said, licking his dry lips.

Sara felt the knot in her stomach loosen a bit, "Why did you want to see me?" she finally asked.

"Just to see you." he said quietly.

She looked into his eyes again and thought she saw something there, but she wasn't sure.

Suddenly, to Sara's dismay, there came a loud knock on the door.

"I better get back to my case." she said hollowy as she got up.

She brushed past Grissoms arm, her fingers lightly skidding along his skin as she headed for the door.

"Sara." he said as she grasped the doorknob.

She looked at him, his head bowed again, "Yes?"

She badly wanted to walk over, push her hands into his hair, press her body against him. She wanted to hold him and have him hold her. Why was human contact so hard to get sometimes?

"You're not a monster."

"No." she said as she opened the door, "I just feel like one."


	7. Pencil Me In

Sara stared at the busted point of her pencil, her finger pushing it about on the paper below her hand, her mind still on Grissom. If she wasn't a monster, than what was she really? She wasn't sure anymore. She sighed wistfully, her finger pushing the lead deeper into the paper, now realizing that she had drawn a heart. This was tragic to her. Suddenly, she felt like she was back in middle school crushing on some boy that would never give her the time of day. She smiled a tad, realizing that she felt as ugly as she had back in middle school. She wasn't fat anymore, but now, she had the gap in her teeth to still deal with and the burn on her skin to make her even more unapproachable.

And she wasn't getting her work done.

She quickly chastised herself for her thoughts, scribbling out the heart on the sheet of paper, her mind now ready to get back to the task at hand.

She didn't look up from the map when she heard footfalls coming toward her. She actually was so focused on one of the street corners, that she found herself humming. The only thing that finally made her look up was the fact that she realized she was singing softly and she wanted to know who might be standing there listening.

It was Grissom.

"You always sing in the lab?" he asked with a small, soft grin on his lips.

"God..." she whispered, "no." she cleared her throat as if that would erase the ackward moment, "I get deep in thougth and don't even know I am doing it."

"Well," he stepped closer, now looking down at the map, "I need you."

She looked at him, her brow furrowed, "I thought you were working with Sofia?"

His eyes remained on the map, "I think we need some alone time."

Sara stared hard at him, hardly believing her ears.

His eyes finally met with Saras, "You coming?"

Sara pushed herself away from the table, her heart hammering in her chest. What did he mean by 'alone time'? What did he mean by anything, really? She never understood him. He talked in riddles.

"Yeah." she said as she followed him out of the lab.

Sofia came around the corner, her eyes fire, "Why am I now working with Catherine?" she said as she fell into step with Grissom and Sara, "I thought I was on this murder case with you today?"

Sara fell back a bit, now watching Grissom and Sofia walking together toward the exit, "I think two women on that case is better than a man." he said, now eyeing her, "You and Catherine are taking over our case and Sara and I are taking over Catherine's case."

Sofia looked confused, her eyes quickly shifting from Grissom to Sara and then back again, "That makes no sense." she argued, "Why can't I just come on this new case and Sara go with Catherine?"

Grissom sighed lightly, "Sofia..." he looked back at Sara, "Give us a moment, Sara."

Sara stopped in her steps, quickly ducking into the locker room for a needed scar check session. She really wanted to hear what Grissom had to say, but that would be eavesdropping and she knew that was wrong.

She ducked into her locker, her face illuminated in the mirror by the soft light above her head. She stared hard. Her eyes feeling strained as she took in all the scarred flesh covering her left cheek on down to the corner of her lips. She touched it, feeling how it felt so much colder than the rest of her skin.

"Sara." she heard Grissoms voice as he opened the door.

Quickly she shut her locker, now staring into Grissoms eyes, "Hey." she said sounding rather guilty, "Is everything okay with Sofia?"

He ignored the question, "Come on."

Sara followed him as he walked on down to the coroner room. At the doors she hesitated slightly, her eyes on Grissom, "I don't..."

"Sara." he hardly whispered.

She went in behind him, David smiling at both of them, offering his appologies to Sara for her condition. That was all she needed to feel her scar start to throb again, reminding her that it was definitely still there.

And then she saw the body. At first, the furrow that met her brow was so deep that she thougth the scar on her face would burst.

"David," she heard Grissom say softly, "can we have a moment?"

She heard David reply and then leave the room.

There was silence.

Sara still eyed the corpse, her breath still caught in her throat, her legs stiff and weak.

She felt Grissoms warm hand on her arm, pulling her over toward the table where the man lay.

She tried to pull back, but he gripped tighter and pulled her closer.

"I know this is hard." he said softly, "But, I just wanted you to see how lucky you are to still be alive."

Sara stared down at the charred face.

"I wanted you to know how lucky we all are that you are still alive." he said even softer now, "We all care about you deeply, Sara." he paused lightly and then went on, "This man had people who cared too, but they will never talk to him again. They will never hug him or touch him again."

Sara still stared at the face, her eyes trying to make out what he might have looked like when he was alive. She could hear Grissoms voice far away somewhere.

She got it. This guy was dead. She was alive. She should be thankful.

She finally looked up at Grissom, her heart fluttering in her chest from the worried expression on his face, "I get it." she said quietly.

She turned to leave.

"Tell me what you get."

Sara rolled her eyes lightly, turning now to look again at the corpse, "I get that I should be happy that I am not a pile of black trash, like he is. I get that I should be just so grateful that my face, eventhough scarred for life and very unattractvie, isn't as bad as his. I get that it should be so great that I have to live with constant nightmares while he gets to lay there at peace."

"Sara."

"I get it all now." she said as she looked at Grissom, "And I get that I will never have you."

She stared at him for what seemed like an eternity and then she walked out the door.


	8. Throw Up, Not Out

Sara stood outside the doors she had just exited, her body convulsing from the vomit shooting from her mouth. Again she grabbed the trash cans edge as another spasm sent more acidy hot puke up her throat.

She was crying from the sheer force of the liquid shooting up from her stomach.

For a moment she stood back, suddenly feeling a warm hand on her shoulder, her hair being pulled back as she again, violently shot forward into the can.

Her insides cramped and throbbed, as spit hung in great, thready lines from her lips.

"Oh God." she moaned as another horrible gush of throw up churned itself up from the depths of her being.

She felt the hand, gentle, but firm, squeezing her neck now, her hair still held away from her face.

She coughed, sending the streams of wet spit splattering into the vomit below.

Now her chest hurt. It clenched with every spasm almost causing her to cry out in pain.

Her hands grasped the cans edge so hard that she was sure they were stuck there.

She couldn't lift her head.

"Finished?" said Grissoms soft voice from up above her head somewhere.

She closed her eyes as she let herself lay more weight against the trash can, her arms suddenly too tired to hold her up anymore.

Seconds later, she felt her body being pulled up. A gentle, warm hand on her stomach, pulling her up and against him. He reached forward wiping her stained mouth with the sleeve of his jacket.

She could feel the heat of his body pressed up against her back, his warm hand still tight against her stomach.

He turned her around, now pressing her gently up against the hallway wall, "You okay?" he again wiped at her mouth with his sleeve.

"I may throw up again." she said wearily, her stomach still clenching, "And now you're gonna smell like my puke."

"It's an honor." he mused lightly.

She fell against him, moaning from the quick streak of pain now throbbing in her belly, "It's coming again."

He turned her back to the can just in time.

Now she was crying. Moaning about the pain.

Grissom opened his cell phone quickly, his hand still around Sara's waist as she again violently retched into the trash, "Catherine?"

Sara shuddered against him, her sobbing coming in great huffs and drags.

"I'm taking Sara home." he paused as Sara shot forward again with another uncontrollable spasm.

"She's sick."

He closed the phone, his other hand now protectively against her chest so she wouldn't hit it against the edge again.

"Honey..." he said as she trembled under his hands, "let's get you home."

"No." she said between sobs, "We...have...so...," she stood up as straight as possible, "much...work..."

"It can wait." he said, now pulling her close to him again, "Put your arm around my waist."

She obeyed, happy to have her face pressed into his shoulder. His strong arm wrapped around her tiny waist.

They walked down the corridor and out to his car.

"You do smell like puke." she said as he placed her in the passenger seat, "Not a good smell."

She felt slurry and drunk. Maybe intoxicated from being so close to Grissom.

"I get that a lot." he again smiled softly at her, just trying to keep the mood lighter than it was.

She heard the door slam beside her and seconds later Grissom was pulling the car out of the parking lot.

"I don't want to throw up in your car." she said softly, her eyes looking over at Grissom.

"I don't think you have anything left in you." he reached up, gently sliding his warm hand down her face, tracing her dry lips with his thumb, "You'll be fine."

Sara closed her eyes then, feeling Grissoms hand now tight and warm over her own.

When they arrived at her apartment, Grissom opened her car door, "Keys?" he questioned as she stared at him.

"Pocket." she reached down, but was too weak and out of it to be able to decipher where the pockets in her jeans really were.

Grissom pulled her from the car, his fingers slowly dipping into the front pocket of her pants.

Sara felt herself immediately react to his fingers sliding down her hips. She knew what he was doing, but it jolted her system and gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling.

He looped his finger into the keyring, pulling it out of her pocket, his movements slow and deliberate as not to touch anything that could get him in trouble.

For a moment their eyes locked as he lifted the keys, "Harmless." he said as they both eyed the keys.

Sara wasn't sure what he meant, but she was sure she didn't mind Grissom digging around in her clothing.

She suppressed a smile, eventhough her stomach was still clenching horribly.

Grissom moved her up the steps to her apartment and through her front door.

She fell into her couch, her hands immediately grasping her stomach. She pulled herself into a fetal position on the cushions, gently groaning from the pain.

"Cabinet." she looked about the room to see where he was, but he was already gone. She sat up, only to be pushed back down, a blanket tucked gently under her chin, "I have all sorts of meds in the bathroom."

He moved quickly, coming back into the room with a small, white container of bottles.

"Pepto." she said quietly, reaching out for it.

He poured the required amount into the cup, only to be a bit taken aback as Sara grabbed the bottle and chugged half of it down.

He quickly grabbed it back, placing it out of her reach.

"I'm so sorry, honey." he said now as Sara lay with sweat drenching her forehead and her hair, "I didn't mean to upset you so much."

Sara closed her eyes as Grissom lifted her head onto his lap. He slid his fingers back and forth over her scar, his other hand gently massaging her neck.

At some point as she lay there with her head on his warm thighs, a small smile edged the corners of her lips, "You still smell like throw up." she said in the softess voice as his touch sent chills up and down her spine.

"So do you." he whispered.

Moments later, Sara was asleep.


	9. Ouch

Sara slid her gloved hand down into the black water in the sink, her stomach turning as a wiff of the liquid lingered up into her nostrils. Gently turning her head, she moved her hand around at the bottom of the basin, grabbing for anything. Behind her, Sofia was dusting the counter for fingerprints, humming a light tune.

She felt something hard under her fingers. Whatever it was it was in the drain hole. She knew she had to get it no matter what.

Reaching as far as possible, she tried to grip the hard surface with her fingers, but she just couldn't seem to get a good enough grip. Pulling her hand out, she quickly put a glove on her other hand and then reached down with both her hands, fingers at the ready. They slid around the object, pinching it as tight as possible. Sara pulled hard, but the thing in the drain would not budge. Instead, loose bits of food floated to the surface, causing Sara to swallow hard and back away from the sink.

Her gag reflex was hindered lately. Usually she could pretty much smell anything and she wouldn't even think of puking, but ever since the charred man incident, Sara was having a hard time with everything.

Grissom came into the kitchen, causing both woman to look his way.

"Found anything?" he asked as he set his kit on the counter.

Sofia brushed past him intentionally, "Just fingerprints and loose flour."

"Sara?" his voice seemed to grow softer when he said her name.

Sara was in the process of putting on longer gloves, "Something is in the drain."

Grissom walked over to the sink, pulling his gloves a bit higher, he delved his hand deep into the mucky water. She came over to stand beside him as he tried to work the object out of the hole.

"Stuck." he said. He looked around and then under the sink for a bucket, "Let's empty this water out of here."

Sara grabbed a glass from the sink, quietly wondering why the hell she hadn't thought of that.

"I was going to mention that, but I figured Sara would come to that conclusion herself." Sofia said as she gave Sara a lopsided smile.

Sara ignored her, gently dipping the cup into the water and pouring it into the bucket at her feet. Five minutes later the sink was cleared. Now they both stared down at the handle of a knife.

Sara reached down, but Grissom gently nudged her hand away as he took hold of the end, the muscles of his arms taunt against his skin as he pulled it from the drain. It gave a steely moan as it came loose from the grips of the disposal.

As Grissom lifted it from it's confines, Sara stepped closer, a disgusted look on her face, "Is that what I think it is?"

He lifted the knife, carefully turning it around under the light of the fluorescent bulb above them, "It's an ear, my dear."

Sara almost smiled, but covered it as Sofia leaned in close to Grissom to get a look, "Wow." she said, "Earring and all."

Sara opened an evidence bag, her stomach now churning up a bit of bile into her mouth as Grissom delicately slid the knife, complete with ear, into the opening. It felt heavy and ackward to Sara as she closed up the top and labeled it.

"The only problem being," Sara said in her throaty little way, "none of the vic's are missing an ear."

"So, either we have another DB somewhere or someone living is missing an ear." Grissom said as he moved past Sara, "I think we need to recheck every inch of the house just to be sure."

It had been three hours of searching with no findings. Sara was just about to leave the plush confines of the little girls room, when she noticed something. At first, in the dim light coming through the sheer curtains on the window, she thought the blanket was just part of the bed spread, but now that she looked closer she could see that it hung differently, as if it were stuck inbetween the mattresses on purpose.

Sara moved toward the bunkbed top, very hesitant to lift the mattress. Slowly, and not without reluctance, she pushed the top mattress up, but it wouldn't budge.

She pulled herself up on the mattress below, now a bit unsteady as she again went to lift the top mattress. As soon as she got it shifted a tad, she lost her footing and tumbled. Without thougtht she grabbed for the railing, but her gloved hand was too slick and she went down.

Strong hands caught her just as her behind was about to touch down on the hard wood floor.

"Careful." Grissom said as he lifted her to stand, his hands warm against the cool skin of her arm, "Don't want you breaking anything."

She felt so stupid, but covered it by immediately getting back to the task at hand, "Can you help me with this mattress?" she asked him, trying very hard not to look him in the eye.

He followed her back over to the bed and in one swoop, had the mattress tipped back against the wall.

Sara climbed the ladder of the bed and looked down.

"This one is missing an ear." she said as she stared down at the cut up child below her, "Oh God..." Sara said as she leaned in closer, "I think she's still breathing."

Sara watched from a corner of the small room, her heart still pounding in her chest, her hands still shaking. She could still see the eyes of the little girl. Pleading eyes.

As they wheeled the child out of the room, Grissom walked over to Sara, "Hey." he said softly, his eyes roving her face as he slipped off his gloves, "You okay?"

"Yeah." she answered softly, "Just give me a minute."

Sofia came into the room, "The bottom mattress was hollowed out?" she asked as she opened her kit on the bottom bunk, "That would almost have to be planned."

Grissom was still staring at Sara.

"I'm fine." Sara brushed past him, making her way over to the bed where Sofia was now perched on the ladder.

"We need to bring that mattress in to the lab." he said upon turning, "I'll help you get it out to the car." he looked at Sofia, who looked a bit shocked.

"Why do I have to take it back to the lab?" she protested.

"Because I need Sara to dust this room for prints." he looked over at Sara, "I'll be right back."

Sara began her dusting on the railings of the bed, only semi aware that Grissom had re-entered the room again.

"I'll be in the bathroom." he said to her.

She gave him a quick smile and continued with her work.

Sara found the quietness in the room absorbing her into its' stillness. It was painful to know that Grissom was so close, but so out of reach. And Sofia wasn't entirely gone yet. She re-entered the room. Giving Sara a quick fleeting look, she disappeared into the bathroom.

Grissom followed Sofia out, "I'll be right back, Sara."

She smiled tightly as she watched them leave the room.

Moments later Sara heard something fall in the closet. She hesitated in front of the door, her hand on the handle.

Suddenly the door flew open, sending Sara flailing toward the floor, painfully landing on her back.

Grissom's voice was far away. Soft.

She blinked, trying desperately to open her eyes, but the lids felt weighted down.

"Sara." she heard, "Come on honey." the voice was soft, reassuring. She lifted her lids again, but she could only see shifts of light.

"That's it.": she heard him say softly. She could feel his hand lifting her head, "Come on, Sara. You can do it."

Her eyes flew open, a horrible pain rocketing into the back of her skull.

"Oh God!" she moaned, grabbing the back of her head.

"A golf bag fell from the closet." he lifted Sara, his hand sliding to the back of her head, "Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere." she said softly, her eyes locked with his as his hand gently searched for the sore spot.

The closeness of his face to her face scared her for a moment and she found it very hard to concentrate on the fact that he was telling her to breath.

Was she holding her breath?

Suddenly, he got up from his squatted position, moving around to her backside, he squatted there, his hand roving up into her hair again.

"I don't see any blood." he said from behind her, his fingers parting her hair, to look at her flesh.

"That's good." she said, pushing herself to stand, "I'll be okay." she moved back over to her tools, "I have some aspirin in my kit."

Grissom went back into the bathroom.

A few times in the process of dusting for prints, Sara stopped to hang her head. Her temples were throbbing from the pain in her brain and her scalp thudded from the small bump that had arisen there.

After dusting the railing, she moved on over to the windowsill, her back now to the room.

"Sara." she heard Grissom say, she turned to look at the bathroom, Grissom standing in the doorway, "I need your hand."

She was quick to put down her tools and join him in the bathroom.

"There's something in the toilet." he went over to squat next to the white bowl, "I think you can get it with your hand, mines too big."

She walked over, the pain in her head only subtle now, she squatted down. Slowly she dipped her gloved hand into the stinging cold water of the toilet, her fingers hesitant as she moved them about trying to capture what was in the hole. She could feel it at her fingertips.

Pulling out of the toilet, she repositioned herself on her knees and then she buried her hand back into the toilet hole. She grabbed what seemed to be paper and pulled delicately as not to tear it apart.

When she knew she had a good enough grip on it, she pulled softly and it floated past her hand to the surface.

She smiled at Grissom as he leaned in to collect the prize.

"A menu." he said upon opening the paper.

"I think I have that one at home." she said as she watched Grissom tucking the wet material into an evidence bag.

He eyed her, "I meant to come back and see how you were doing the other night." he slipped the evidence bag into his kit, "I just wasn't able to get away from the case long enough to check on you."

She shrugged, "It's okay." she smiled quickly, "I was fine." she stood, "I mean," she moved back toward the bedroom, "I am fine."

Grissom followed her out of the small restroom, "I'll help you dust the rest of the room."

They worked in silence, Sara stealing glances at him every once in awhile, hardly aware that she was getting more dust on herself than on the windowsill.

Catching a look of herself in the reflection from the window glass, she suddenly felt horribly ugly. The scar, maybe only because the light of the day was so muted in the room, looked purple and thicker than she had ever seen it look.

She wasn't sure how long she had been standing there staring at herself and she didn't even notice that she was until she felt Grissoms hand on her shoulder, "Sara."

She turned, her face shielded by her hair as she locked eyes with him.

"Are you dusting the windowsill for prints or your body?" he pointed down at her leg that was now covered in dust.

She had to smile as she looked back at him, "Won't find any prints on me, except my own." she said, but stopped the twill of the brush between her fingers, "No one's touched me in so long."

Grissoms hand slid down her arm and right into her hand, "I've touched you."

"It's never going to be the same for me." she gripped his hand a bit tighter, "Not with these burns."

He pulled her over to the bed, sitting down with her, his warm body pressed against her side, "Sara..." he was hesitant.

Sara put up her guard as she waited for him to go on.

"I've been thinking a lot about you lately." he said and Sara had to look at him to believe that those words had just fallen from his lips.

"Worrying." she said softly, her fingers loosely mingled with his.

He eyed the door, "I don't know."

"You really shouldn't worry about me, Grissom." she said as she moved to get up, but he pulled her back down gently.

"I think I need to talk." he said.

Sara raised an eyebrow, but her face melted into confusion, "I already know about you and Sofia." she said as she felt his fingers gently slide to her wrist, massaging the scarred flesh there.

"I want to talk about me and you." he said, but it seemed to Sara to come off as a whisper.

She swallowed hard, knowing that their little talks never really led anywhere or solved anything. Sara would always hunger for him and he would always be just on the brink of her reach.

"I really don't want to go there again." she heard herself say, but his warm finger massaging her scarred flesh felt wonderful.

"I think you need me." he said softly, "And I need..."

There was a loud thud as the golf bag came falling out of the closet again.

Sara flinched, but looked at Grissom, "What do you need?" she said, trying to draw him back into the conversation at hand, but he was already focused on something else.

He was already getting up, "The closet." he said.

She stood and followed.


	10. Not My Twin

Sara seated herself next to the child, careful not to get too close to her.

"Mindy." she said softly, "What can you tell me about the man who came in your home?"

Mindy shrugged, her fingers still tracing the lips on her dolls face, "Don't know."

Sara stared at her, feeling a bit aggravated by the fact that the child didn't seem to be there with her, "You said you saw the man in the hallway and that is why you hid in the secret room in your closet, right?"

The child looked at Sara, "What's that on your face?" she asked, as she lifted a finger to touch it.

Sara pulled back a bit, "It's a scar." she said and then, "Tell me about what you saw in the hallway."

The child was still staring at Sara's cheek, "Did that hurt?"

Sara moved the chair a bit further from the girl, "I need you to talk about the man."

"I heard my sister screaming." she said, now blinking her eyes at Sara, "Did you scream?"

Sara cleared her throat just as Sofia walked into the room.

"Grissom told me to take over here." she said as she seated herself in front of the child.

Sara was thankful. She left the room quickly, ducking into the bathroom before anyone could pull her aside.

She stood in the stall for a few moments, her eyes closed as she willed away all of the words and motions running through her head. At first she was focused on everything the child had said, but soon she was trying to push Grissoms words out of her head. What had he wanted to say to her? What did he need?

When dinner time came around Sara hardly felt the need to eat. She sat in the breakroom staring at the blank screen of the television set, her index finger stroking the inside of her spoon.

"Soup?" Sofia questioned as she came into the room.

Sara didn't look at her, "Yeah." she said as she looked down at her bowl of cold vegtable stew.

"That little girl just kept on about your scar." Sofria was now saying as she washed her hands at the sink, "I think it scared her."

"I'm sure it did." Sara said softly as she slid her spoon into the dark liquid of the soup.

"I had to finally offer her some gum." she ducked into the refrigerator, "That got her talking."

Sara stood then, horrified at the fact that Sofia might actually be thinking about sitting down next to her.

"Have you seen Grissom anywhere?" Sofia asked now as she moved a chair from the table, "His office door is closed."

Sara shrugged lightly, "Haven't seen him."

She left the breakroom, quietly moving toward Grissoms closed door.

She knocked lightly.

Silence.

She knocked again, but this time the door opened slowly and Sara realized that it hadn't been closed all the way.

Slowly she walked into his office, mainly just wanting to leave a note that she had some evidence she needed him to look over.

The office was dark, only the jars on the shelves around her seemed to be illuminated by some errie light.

Moving as quietly as possible, she located a pad of paper on his desk and a pen. She scribbled down her message and was just about to leave when she heard a quiet movement out to her right.

Peeking into the larger part of Grissoms office, she could just make out a figure lying on his couch.

She paused.

"Sofia," his voice was tired, gruff, "This isn't a good time."

Sara hesitated just beyond the couch, "Are you okay?" she asked, very aware of the worry in her voice.

He opened his eyes, "Hey." he said softly.

"Hey." she said just as softly, offering him a tiny smile, "The door was ajar."

He sat up quickly, putting his head in his hands, "You're fine." he said quietly.

Sara looked over at the door, halfway expecting Sofia to be there, watching them.

She looked back at Grissom only to realize that he was now staring at her, "You okay?"

Leave it to Grissom to ask her if she was alright, when he clearly was the one in pain.

"Fine." she squatted down, hardly aware of the fact that her hand was now on his knee, "Is it your head?"

He stared at her.

Suddenly she felt so transparent in front of him. She stood quickly, "I...um..." she almost headed for the door, but Grissom reached up and took her hand.

She could hardly breath.

Before she could even think of what she was doing, she buried her free hand in his hair, gently sliding her fingernails over his scalp.

"Stay for a moment." he said quietly.

Sara cleared her throat, her eyes on the door again, "I...um...I know..."

"It's just a migraine, Sara." he removed his hand from hers causing her to step back.

"Migraines aren't good." she reasoned lightly.

"No." he said.

She took a deep breath, "My dad used to get them a lot." she shrugged a bit as Grissoms eyes met with her own, "I'm good with my hands." she offered and found herself blushing at the way the words had so easily fallen from her lips.

"You can help?" he asked and Sara felt her heart melt.

She took off her shoes and climbed onto the couch, gently sliding her body down behind his body. The heat meeting with her thighs almost caused her to sigh, but she held all her pent up emotions just below the surface, all of them screaming to come out.

"Massage is a powerful thing." she said, trying not to breath in too much of him, "My foster mom taught me that."

Sara reached up, her fingers contacting with the skin of the back of Grissoms neck, she pressed her thumbs deeply into the center. Gently she moved up his neck, adding more pressure as she went. When she reached the base of his skull, she began to make gently rubbing circles back down his flesh.

She thougth she heard him sigh a few times.

"That's better." he said as Saras fingers began to massage behind his ears.

"I wanted to thank you for sending Sofia in with the twin." she pressed her fingers deeper into his flesh, "I admit that I wasn't okay."

"I didn't like the way she was looking at you." he said lightly.

Sara moved her nose closer to Grissoms neck, taking in a slow inhale of him, "It's something I need to get used to."

"Kids can be cruel." he offered.

"How's the migraine now?" she asked as her breath touched his neck, underneath her hands she felt him shudder.

"Good." he said as he stood up, offering her his hand.

She let him pull her up off the couch.

Now they stood face to face, Sara searching his eyes for anything.

"What is this?" Sofia's voice from the doorway.

A cold chill ran down Sara's spine as she turned her attention from the man she loved, to the woman she wanted to hate.

Sofia flicked the light on in Grissoms office, "What am I seeing?"

Grissom moved in front of Sara as if to protect her, "I think I need to make a decision." he said.

Sara felt weak and dizzy.

Sofia leaned herself against Grissoms desk, her arms now folded under her breasts, "What are you talking about?"

Grissom stood in the middle of the room, his back still to Sara, "I don't love you Sofia." he said with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

Sara took in a sharp breath as she watched Sofia push herself up onto Grissoms desk, some of his paperwork falling to the floor.

Sara moved to pick it up, but Grissom grabbed her arm.

"It's her, isn't it?" Sofia tucked some hair behind her ear, a small smirk on her lips, "I should have known."

Grissom looked at Sara and then back at Sofia, "I don't want you to move in with me, Sofia."

"Thank God." Sara whispered lightly.

"So, you're moving Sara in?" Sofia said as she pushed herself off the desk, "Or is Sara only good in the office?"

Sara watched Sofia leave and then she moved to leave.

"Sara." his voice was soft.

She picked up his paperwork quickly, "I have some evidence to go over with you." she said as she placed the papers on his desk. She almost had found some clarity in what Sofia had just said. Maybe she was just workplace play. Some kind of fun rat he could toy with until he got home to his real women.

"Are you angry?" he looked confused for a second.

"I just think I finally understand things." she said, now moving toward the door.

"Sara..." he said.

"I'll be with the evidence." she said, but turned in the doorway before leaving to say, "Just something else you can leave behind at the end of the day."


	11. Saturday Surprise

Sara stirred the spaghetti, gently picking noodles up with the end of a fork to test how ready they were. They looked pretty tender so she turned off the stove top and placed the pot on a potholder next to the sink.

Now she squatted down to find the colander in the cabinets below. She wasn't the most tidy person when it came to pots and pans. Hell, she hardly ever cooked!

Finding the colander, she stood up quickly, suddenly aware of a hot, stinging sensation running over her shoulder and down her arm. A lump of firey, sticky spaghetti dangling down into the front of her shirt.

She cursed viciously, brushing the burning spaghetti off her flesh, taking off her shirt and throwing it halfway across the kitchen.

The pot clanged to the floor, a few noodles looking like thin worms trying to crawl away as scalding water splashed threateningly over the tiled floor around her feet.

She hopped over the water, quickly vanishing into her bathroom, her shoulder still stinging from the flash of hot liquid and limp noodles.

Cursing some more, she pulled up her hair to look at the large red spot on the flesh of her right shoulder.

Suddenly, not to her surprise, the doorbell was ringing.

"Amelia." she said softly as she stared at herself in the mirror, now laying a cold cloth on the burn.

Quickly she drapped a towel over her thin shoulders, pulling it tight in the front, securing a hair clip around the two ends. Still, under the cold cloth, the skin throbbed and stung.

Amelia was the little girl next door to her. Every Saturday night, because Sara was so desperately lonely lately, she would come over and show Sara the new stuffed toy her Grandma had given her that day. Sara would usually let her in and they would have dinner and sometimes watch Spongebob. She knew the kid was lonely too. No father. Just a mother who needed a few Saturday nights alone sometimes.

"Just a second." she yelled as she threw the pot in the sink and dropped a dish towel over the puddle on the floor.

Upon her arrival at the front door she paused for a second making sure the towel was secured tightly enough over her chest. When she was positive that she wouldn't be exposing herself to the hallway, she opened the door slowly.

The figure standing in front of her door was definitely not Amelia.

She stepped back in surprise, almost tripping over her own feet, her hands grabbing the towel more securely to her chest, "Hey." she said, trying to recompose herself, but doing a very bad job of it.

"Is this a bad time?" he asked, his eyes searching her face.

First thing Sara noticed was how clean shaven he looked. Almost ten years younger and so beautiful to her. He had on a heavy brown sweater, beige lapels hanging over the collar. She wondered if he had done this or if there had been help.

She flushed, "Um..." she stumbled backward into her apartment almost toppling the decorative screen she had standing there, "no."

"Can I come in?" was his next question as Sara tried desperately to compose herself.

"Yeah." she put a hand through her hair, only slightly aware that the towel was falling off her shoulders, baring skin to Grissom that she knew he had never seen.

Grissom's gaze became concerned as the towel and rag fell from her right shoulder, "What did you do to your shoulder?" he asked as he closed the door behind himself. His eyes were now searching her eyes, worry drenching his features.

"Cooking." she said, still not sure of her footing, her hands now quick to get the towel back over her scarred flesh, "At least both shoulders are evenly scarred now." she felt the searing pain of the fresh burn on her right shoulder as she pulled the towel over the raw skin.

"Let me see it, Sara." he said as he reached for the towel, his gaze now concentrated on her shoulder.

She backed away, "It's fine." she pulled the towel tighter to her flesh, "I'll just put some..."

"Sara."

He could always say it in just the right tone to make her defenses falter, the bricks of her walls crumbling just for him.

She let the towel fall to just above her breasts, her hands holding it there as Grissom stepped up to her, his breath warm on her neck.

"How did you do this?" he gently took her arm, leading her to her bathroom.

She cherished the fact that his hand was a bit too cold and semi rough against the soft warmth of her skin, "Spaghetti."

He sat her on the toilet, "You need to be more careful."

"I was careful." she said, but had to admit that she was sort of happy that she hadn't been.

He pulled a large medical kit from under Sara's sink, opening it slowly. Sara's heart fluttered in her chest as she watched him pick through all sorts of remedies, his hand finally settling upon some severe burn ointment. He stood, causing Sara to look up at him and then down at her seared flesh.

"This may sting." he said, gently pushing some of the transparent goop onto his fingers, "But it should help a lot."

Sara looked down at her chest, only a tad bit aware of the stinging sensation that had taken up residence between her small breasts. The towel wasn't helping the situation either. It felt scratchy and horrible.

But his fingers on her burn felt wonderful. And the way he slathered it on, asking every few moments if she was okay, made her heart almost palpitate in her chest.

A gentle movement of his fingers against the back of her neck as he pulled her hair up to get to more of the burn, almost caused Sara a fatal sigh of passonate need. But she sucked the emotion back down into her lungs quickly; happy to have it evaporate along with all the other deep feelings.

"Are you burned anywhere else?" he asked now as he placed some gauze over the soothed area, gently securing it under her arm with white tape.

Sara hesitated, "I'll get the rest."

"Sara."

She moved the towel so that now he could see a bloached red line leading from her chest down to her belly button.

She flushed lightly as he squatted in front of her, her hands cupping her breasts as he began to dab ointment on the burn, "The spaghetti fell down my shirt." she said, trying not to make eye contact with him.

"I think," he said softly, his finger gently dabbing ointment just above the waistline of her pants, his eyes coming to meet with her eyes, "we should order some take out."

The 'we' stuck out in her mind like a blinding sign.

"I can still cook dinner, Griss..."

He stood, "You're a hazard in the kitchen."

She had to smile at him as he pulled the towel back up and around her shoulders.

"You want me to grab a shirt for you?" he asked as he cleaned his hands off in the sink.

"I can get it." she said as she moved toward the door to her bedroom.

She pulled on a large sweatshirt, careful to not disturb the gauze on her shoulder. When she arrived back in her den, Grissom was already ordering some take out.

The doorbell rang again.

Sara opened the door to see Amelia standing there. The tall child smiled at her, raising a purple elephant into Sara's view, "Isn't it cool?"

Sara smiled lightly, trying desperately to concentrate on the girl in front of her and not the man behind her, "Very cool." she said.

Amelia peeked around Sara to look at Grissom, "Whose that?"

"A friend." Sara said softly as she nudged Amelia back out into the hallway, "We're going to have to do our dinner and a movie tomorrow, is that okay?"

"Sure." Amelia said with a quick smile, "mom said I probably wouldn't be able to stay tonight."

Sara smiled again, "I bet she did."

"What time tomorrow?" Amelia asked as she pressed the elephants trunk against Sara's leg.

"How about five?" Sara patted the stuffed toy.

"Cool." Amelia said and hurried off to her apartment.

Sara went back into her own apartment, her eyes watching as Grissom slid his finger down the binds of the books in her bookcase. She knew he was probably looking for her silly crime novels, but she didn't house those out in the open. For some reason she kept those books in her bedroom, tucked into the shelves of her nightstand.

"See anything you like?" she questioned as she closed the door.

He turned to her, "I do." he dropped his finger, now walking over to her, "You mind if I take off this sweater?" he went to grab the edges of it, "It's hot in here."

"Sure." she said as she moved past him, "I'll turn the heat off."

"No." he said, the sweater pulling over his face now, "If your comfortable."

"I'm fine." she said now changing the settings on the themostat.

Her shoulder stung lightly, "So...um..." she looked at him as she went in the kitchen to clean up the mess, "why are you here?" she hadn't wanted to ask it, but it just seemed like the moment she needed to say something.

"I could say I was in the neighborhood." he leaned down then, taking the wet towel from her, "You need to go sit down."

She stared at him, both of them kneeling on the kitchen floor now, "I just wanted to clean up the mess."

"I'll clean it for you." he said softly, pressing his large hands down on the towel, "Go sit."

Sara pulled herself up by the counter. Having him in her kitchen was extemely strange. Watching him clean up her mess was even stranger.

Having him here on a Saturday night, the night she was always feeling her loneliest, was possibly the best or worst thing in the world. She wasn't sure just yet.

"So you weren't in the neighborhood?" she asked as she seated herself at her small kitchen table, pressing her hand against her sweatshirt in order to renew the tiny tingle of the gel against her burn.

"No." he said, now bringing the sopping wet towel to the sink.

She didn't know what else to say so she continued to watch him. His every move intrigued her.

"I owe it to you to be completely honest." he said as he finished up his cleaning.

"Honest about?" she felt her heart stop in her chest as he eyed her from the sink. It was that look that had taken her breath away so many times, but here it seemed different.

"I think you know."

"I do." she stood up quickly, "But if it's going to break my heart..."

He walked over to her, sliding his hand along her jawline, his thumb gently lingering across her lips, "It isn't going to break your heart."

She felt confused suddenly. It was a wonderful, floaty confusion that sent electric charges down her spine, "What are you doing?" She asked as his face neared her own, his eyes on her mouth. Suddenly she felt disoriented and weak.

In some kind of delirious moment, she suddenly felt his lips, gentle, but stern upon her own. Warm breath and moist lips parting her dry lips, with just a tiny scape of his nose across her nostrils. She felt herself whimper softly into his mouth as he brushed his tongue across her tongue. The soft scent of him lingering into her soul, as the harsh warmth of his breath caressed her lungs. The heat of his body transforming her own into a blurry tingle of nerves and need. Instantly her whole body shuddered, sending a quiver into her knees that almost made her collapse, but he was holding her too tightly to let her fall.

His hand now paused on her jawline, his fingertips sending warm currents down her spine, Sara thought she couldn't possibly remain fully clothed against him for too much longer.

She pushed her hand up into his hair, her other hand grasping the thickness of the back of his warm neck. Their bodies pressing deeper and deeper into one another's so that it seemed Sara might disappear completely.

She probed his mouth with her tongue, only to be met by the hungry swipe of his tongue against her own.

Sara could taste minty saliva, mixed with a hint of black coffee.

She moaned deeply, trying desperately to calm her building desire. The soft scrape of his rough chin against her own, sending mad bolts of passion wavering down into her thighs. Her legs suddenly felt like jelly.

She held to him tighter, feeling herself drifting further into the moment as she heard a deep groan bubble up from his throat.

The moment was intoxicatingly blinding and Sara was sure she was on the verge of a blackout or a disturbingly wonderful release.

Her heart was a thundering mess inside her chest, pounding so hard that she was sure her veins would explode.

She could see herself on Doc Robbins table, Grissom standing there trying to explain that he might have accidentily kissed her too hard.

Then the doorbell rang.

Sara pulled away from Grissom, the taste of him now saturated into her tongue as he wet his lips and looked toward the door, "Want me to get it?"

"I don't think I am hungry for dinner anymore." she said with a tiny grin on her lips, her trembling fingers reaching up to clear away her lipstick from his mouth.

Grissom grinned lightly, "Neither am I." he leaned in to kiss her quickly, "But someone has to get the door."


	12. Remote No Control

_-Hmmm...I guess everyone likes this story :) Sorry I took so long to update. I was having trouble with figuring out where to go with this one. I hope this makes all of you happy. _

_Thanks so much for the reviews...you guys are the greatest :)_

Sara smiled lightly as she watched Grissom go toward the door. She was still shaken to the core by the heat and the intensity of the kiss. Her legs were still wobbly.

Upon closing the door, he lifted the bag of take out and raised his eyebrow at her, "Shall we?"

She smiled lightly, "We shall."

They sat eating quietly, Sara only glancing his way when she was sure he wasn't looking her way. But she caught him looking her way more often than not.

"How did you know exactly what I always order?" she was a bit intrigued by his choices, but confused.

"You had chinese with Nick about two weeks ago." he said between bites of his eggroll, "He left your order on the counter." he shrugged, "I took a peek at the paper."

Sara smiled softly, her eyes lingering on his oil glazed lips, "You cheated."

He smiled around another bite of eggroll, "I did."

"So," she ventured as she moved her fork about in her mixed vegetables, "you were thinking about me two weeks ago?"

He eyed her, "I'm always thinking about you."

A smile flittered to her lips, "Could have fooled me." she said now taking a large fork of noddles to her lips, "I thought you wanted Sofia."

"That was a bad choice." he napkined off his mouth, "I've always only wanted you."

She twirled more noodles around her fork, "It took Sofia to make you see that?"

"Everytime I was with her I only thought of you." he said as he finished off the eggroll, "I knew something was wrong if I couldn't even be with a woman and not think about how much I would rather be with you."

Sara felt satisfied with the answer, but still had more questions.

"I don't know what spell you have on me." he grinned lightly at her, the emotion of it showing in his beautiful eyes, "But I like it."

"Witchcraft." she grinned as she slurped up some more soup, "My mom's side."

He grinned, "You're beautiful."

She raised an eyebrow, burying her fork into her veggie's again, "Let's not go there." she said rather uneasily, the scar on her face and the fresh burn now sizzling together, "Beauty isn't anything I have ever seen in this face." she stabbed at a large peice of brocolli, "Especially now."

"I only see beauty in you." he crunched into another eggroll, "Beauty and a bit of hard headedness."

She lifted her head and smiled in his direction, her eyes lingering over his glistening lips again, "Did you sleep with Sofia?"

Grissom nearly chocked on the eggroll, "Isn't that sort of private?" he asked as he gained his composure again.

"If were here to be perfectly honest with each other, I have questions for you." she slid her hand over the bandage on her shoulder, wincing slightly.

"You need more ointment?" he asked, dabbing at his mouth again.

"No." she said quietly, "I need to know if you slept with her?"

Grissom leaned back in the chair, his eyes on her, "No." he said.

She looked at him.

He raised an eyebrow, "I didn't sleep with her."

She shook her head, a faint, quivering smile lingering up to her lips, "Good."

"I mean," he took a long sip of his tea, "I wanted to. I am only a man, afterall." he shrugged, "But, I just couldn't do it. I just kept thinking about the feelings I was having for you and decided it would almost be like cheating on you."

Sara cleared her throat, "Good."

They both finished their meals quietly. Sara stealing glances at him again.

"That was good." he finally said as he drank down the last of his tea, "How was your food?"

Sara was trying to think of what to do after the meal was over. Of course, she could think of many things that pretty much had her horizontally laid underneath him, but that would be overstepping the situation a bit. It was something that she could fantasize about later. Alone.

"Good." she said in a bit of a haze, her mind lingering on her video collection, wondering if she had anything that might interest him.

"So we've moved from 'fine' to 'good'?" he was collecting the empty containers in the take out bag, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." she said, blinking her eyes at him as if she had just come out of a daze, "You wanna watch a movie or something?"

Alarm bells sounded in her head. Something?

That left a bunch of options open to him. She wished, silently, that she could grab the remote and rewind on what she had just said. Something, in her mind, pretty much equaled out to her giving him the option of coming to bed with her. But maybe he wasn't thinking that way.

She looked over at him.

He was. It showed in the look he was giving her, his hands paused over the garbage can in her kitchen.

Quickly she moved over to her entertainment center, her hands grabbing for any video that didn't deal with romance or Disney themes. She pulled out her favorite horror movie, smiling at him as he came into the room, "Changeling." she said.

"Alright." he said.

Sara couldn't believe it was so awkward just to figure out were to sit now that she had him in her den. She had one large couch on one wall and then a smaller one sitting in the middle of the room. She ventured toward the small one, only to feel the strong warmth of his hand on her wrist pulling her back to the larger one, "I think this one is big enough for both of us."

Sara bit back a pleased smile.

He sat first, pulling her down to the couch with him, but she pulled away, "Have to put it in." she said as she clumsily moved toward the VCR. Her words echoed in her head. It seemed to her, in her current state of arousal, that those weren't the choicest words to use.

"I didn't know people still had those." he said from his place on the couch, "Most people nowadays have a thing called a DVD player."

Sara gave him a look and grinned, "I have a lot of video's that I still like to watch." she pushed the tape into the player, "I don't need a DVD player."

Previews flitted onto the screen, "I'm hoping you have color television."

Sara rolled her eyes at him, a squelched smile quivering at the corners of her mouth, "I do have colored tv."

She hesitated near the television, now fast forwarding through old movie previews; ones that she had seen a million times. She was hesitating mostly because she wasn't sure of how exactly to seat herself next to him. Why was this so hard? She had always thought that she would have been the one to make the first move. Now that he had, she wasn't entirely sure of were else to go with it.

"Sara." it was deep, but assuring, "Are you going to come and sit?"

She pressed play, "Yeah." she hesitated a bit more as she watched the movie begin, then she paused it, "You want something to drink?"

"We just had something to drink." he said as he patted the empty cushion next to him, "I don't bite."

She surpressed another nervous smile and walked over to the couch, "I just..."

"I'm making you nervous." he said quietly, his eyes roving her face.

"A little." she said as she eased herself onto the vacant cushion.

He slid his hand into her's, pulling it onto his lap, "Don't be." he whispered.

She unpaused the movie, her head slowly finding it's way to his shoulder. This is how they stayed for half an hour. Just sitting, side by side, relaxing. She didn't want his hand to ever let go of her hand. She didn't ever not want to have her head pressed into the warmth of the side of his arm.

Her other hand lay in her lap, the remote clenched tightly in her grasp.

"This movie doesn't creep you out?" he asked as the movie played on in front of them.

Sara squeezed his hand, "I don't believe in ghosts." she said as she moved to sit up; her right arm now pressed against his arm.

He looked at her, his eyes searching her eyes, "I do."

Sara paused the movie, "Really?" she felt he may be teasing her again, "And how many have you seen?"

He raised his eyebrow, "A few." he breathed out, "Mostly my mother."

Sara felt her lips twitch as she watched a sadness settle itself in the corners of his eyes, "I'm sorry."

"No." he scrunched his lips and shook his head a bit, "It's a nice thing."

"Uh...huh..." she found she was loosing herself in the closeness of his face to her own, "She adored you, I'm sure of that."

"She may have." he reached over with his right hand, gently pushing some hair behind her ear, "She would have liked you too."

Sara smiled gently, "You more."

He slid his hand to the back of her neck, pulling her toward his lips. Sara felt the unbelievable heat of his body as he pulled her unexpectedly onto his lap.

She winced; mostly from the shock of now being straddled over his lap, but slightly from the stinging quality of her burn.

"You okay?" he looked worried for a second.

"Fine." she said breathlessly.

He smiled, "I'm glad you got your 'fine' back."

"Yeah." she couldn't take her eyes off his lips.

Suddenly, his hands were under her thighs, moving her closer to him, "You need to be kissed again?" he said softly as his eyes roved over her face.

Sara sighed lightly, trying to forget that his warm hands were still underneath her thighs, squeezing gently, "If the ghost's don't mind." she smiled down at him.

"I'm sure they won't." he whispered as his mouth slid into her's again.

This time was even more powerful. Just the knowledge that she was dangerously spread over his thighs had her quivering under his touch. Clothes were the only things separating them from their carnal desires.

Sara was taking in wiffs of him, trying desperately to control her building need to be pinned under his strong body.

As he kissed her deeply, the heat in his lips and mouth was so overpowering that she found herself groaning from the massage of his tongue against her own.

She slid her left hand up to lie against his neck, now feeling his groan rumble just below the skin. This was turning him on just as much as it was turning her on.

His hands under her gripped her more tightly, causing enormously deep moans of desire to escape her lips; a tremble settling itself in her thighs.

Then, as if it wasn't enough to just taste her mouth, he moved his warm, moist lips down to her neck.

Sara moaned deeper as his chin scraped over her smooth skin; his lips moving in wet kisses slowly down to her collarbone.

"Your burn still bothering you?" he asked as he brushed tiny kisses over the bandage.

"Little." she said still savouring the heat of him.

"I guess we should get back to the movie." he said, his lips back on the tender skin under her chin.

"Uh...huh..." she sighed, "Probably."

He pulled away from her, a faint smile on his lips, "Not to be ultra romantic or anything," he said as he gently nudged her off his lap, "but I have to use your bathroom."

Sara smiled as she nestled herself into the plush cushions at the other end of the couch, "That's better than roses." she grinned as he disappeared from her view.

She sat there, with her bare feet buried in the cushions, only thinking about how much longer he would be able to stay before he had to go. She wasn't looking forward to seeing him leave. She looked over at the clock to see that it was just after ten.

She wanted him to stay the night.

He came back into the room, placing himself on the couch close to Sara, his hands pulling her long legs over his thighs. He began to give her a wonderful foot massage. Gently inching his thumb up the middle of her foot, "Are we going to watch the rest of the movie?" he eyed her and then the television.

She shook herself out of her daze, her eyes shifting to the screen, "Oh yeah." she said quickly.

She couldn't concentrate on the movie.

She only wanted to watch him.

His fingers were doing wonders for her feet.

She saw a grin working it's way onto the corner of his lips, "Are you watching me or the movie?" he asked as he slowly turned to look at her.

"You." she said as her lips fell into an easy smile, "Always you."

* * *

_Sorry to leave it there...he,he,he...there will be more ;)_


	13. To Creep Over Sleep

Sara woke to warmth against her lips and her hips. She moved her mouth suddenly feeling the brush of heated skin scrap past her chin. Flesh? A person? Couldn't be. She had to still be dreaming one of her impossibly wonderful Grissom dreams. She sighed, now just letting her lips press against the pulse point in his neck. She kept her eyes tightly shut, knowing that as soon as she opened them, the reality of being alone would hit her and the notion of tasting Grissom's skin would leave her feeling more alone than ever. And she was tired of that sinking, unbearable feeling.

Yet; he had been with her the night before. Had he fallen asleep here with her? She couldn't think rationally. She could hardly think at all.

She moved her left leg, knee brushing over warm thighs. Her left hand slid over a thick shirt, past buttons, into a warm armpit. Was he really here with her?

She was suddenly paralyzed and embarrassed. If he was here underneath her arm and her thigh, then he was probably wondering why her teeth were gently nibbling at his earlobe.

She opened her eyes quickly; her leg, arm and teeth pulling back away from Grissom's resting form.

He was there. Larger than life. Laid out on her couch. Sleeping.

Sara contemplated her next move. There really wasn't much she could do. He was laid on his back, arms behind his head, sleeping soundly. She was wedged inbetween him and the couch, uncomfortable and hot. The heat from his body and her body mixing into a four alarm fire. She pushed herself up on her right elbow, pulling her hand out from underneath Grissom's back; digging fingers into the couch to get a better hold on her falling form.

For a moment she watched his quiet face, taking in all the beautiful qualities of his sleeping features.

But seconds later, as she peered down at him, she realized that she had to pee. Badly.

She took in a deep breath, pushed herself higher on her arm and threw her left leg over Grissom.

He mumbled something, a tiny furrow lingering along the curve of his brow.

Sara paused, looking like a ninja in the middle of a high kick.

The furrow subsided.

Sara took in another deep breath, this time turning her body a tiny bit so she could push up with her right knee to get better leverage.

Bad idea.

With one quick push, Sara ended up straddling Grissom, her face crashing down on his chest.

He woke. Startled.

"You okay?!" was the first thing he asked as he blinked himself awake, both his hands grabbing Sara's shoulders to steady her, "What are you doing?"

It did look bad. She was practically laying on him. Her crotch snug against his, "Nothing." she said with wild eyes as she pushed to sit up. Her crotch dug into his groin causing him to sit up quickly and push her off of his lap.

"Are you okay?" he was rubbing his eyes; scratching his head, "Did you hurt yourself?"

She plopped beside him on the couch, "I have to pee." she said quickly and disappeared into the bathroom.

She took in a long, deep breath as she relieved herself in the toilet. The morning was starting off great. Now she looked like some sex starved maniac trying to molest Grissom while he slept. Jesus!

She brushed through her hair with her left hand as she brushed her teeth with the other. At least she could still multi-task a good bit.

When she entered the den again she was very surprised to see him still seated on her couch. He was leaned over, his head bowed.

To her surprise, she walked over and slid her hand through his graying hair, "You okay?"

He lifted his head, squinting at her, "Fine." he said as he pinched the tops of his jeans, pulling them toward his knees as if to releive pressure from other area's of his body.

She kneeled down in front of him, her hands on his knee's, "That's my word." she smiled lopsidely at him.

He slid his hands over her cheeks, gently pulling her toward his waiting lips. Gently he kissed her and then he stood up, "I need your restroom for a moment."

She watched him disappear into the small room.

She crossed her fingers that he would be staying the whole day with her.

Maybe a whole lifetime.


End file.
